“It will be a completely different life,” Diks realizes. Now, as a Member of Parliament, she is still involved in matters such as female circumcision; soon she will focus on healthcare in Groningen. In addition, she becomes the first replacement for Mayor Schuiling.
Letting go takes effort
“It takes me a lot of effort to let it go,” says Diks, who was asked for the councilor in Stad. “I am still writing the defense note, but I can no longer present it. That hurts. “
Nevertheless, the choice for Groningen is a conscious one. “There is so much going on here. I’ve been looking at a house for a bit. You cannot travel back and forth to The Hague. Then you get really tired of nothing at all. “
No more 25
Well, nothing? She’ll leave her husband behind. “Oh,” she says, laughing while sitting at home during the corona crisis, “he’s happy when I leave, I think. And we are no longer 25. We have a lot of fun together, but you don’t have to wait all day until you see each other again. “
From Apeldoorn to Groningen
Diks started her political career in 1994 in the city council of Apeldoorn, before transferring to the Provincial Council of Gelderland in 2003. She was an alderman in Leeuwarden from 2008 to 2017 and then became a Member of Parliament. She was elected by preference votes.
She was discredited late last year after De Volkskrant reported that she received redundancy pay in addition to her income as a Member of Parliament. She had her compensation of around 115,000 euros annually supplemented by 7,000 euros because she had given up her job as councilor for it. She was entitled to it, but there was controversy.
‘Extremely clumsy’
“After 8.5 years as a councilor, you have a certain spending pattern,” Diks defended the choice to receive redundancy pay.
“I should never have done that,” she says now. “It was incredibly clumsy and I made awkward statements about it. I apologized several times and indicated that I will repay the redundancy pay. “
Earthquakes and corona
Diks calls the corona crisis and the misery surrounding gas extraction ‘a very nice opportunity to meddle with administratively’.
“There are so many concerns. We have used the wealth in the ground, but people have ended up in a huge mess, “she says, then wonder aloud what we have” done to each other. “
Heart beats faster
The new alderman, who is expected to be officially installed at the end of April, calls the problems in our province surrounding the earthquake problems ‘unknown’.
“I am a councilor in a time of great uncertainty. There is a lot of pressure on healthcare, education and business. My administrative heart is beating faster: I could not miss this opportunity. “
May 1
Diks canceled her membership on 1 May, although that date may still change due to the corona crisis. So there is a farewell to come, which may also look different than usual.
One subject will undoubtedly be discussed. President of the Chamber Arib has never said that she is not charmed when MPs leave prematurely. When VVD MP Foort van Oosten left to become mayor, she said she was ‘not happy with that’.
Not just The Hague
GroenLinkser Diks takes a different view. “I understand that it makes you gloomy when a Member of Parliament starts working in business, halfway through his or her term. But the public administration does not only consist of the House of Representatives in The Hague. ‘
“I am therefore sorry that Arib is of that opinion. You assume a stratification that is not there. We all do it: municipalities, provinces, water boards and the national government. What happens at the local level is also very important. ”
Also read:
– Member of Parliament Isabelle Diks new councilor in Groningen
– Alderman Gijsbertsen of Groningen resigns
– .
